Archive for the ‘recipes’ Category

Now that we are into Spring, it is time to get back into those yummy salads. This is one I love that uses my home grown Sprouts. It is very refreshing and like many Thai salads no oil is used in the dressing, making it a super fat free salad.

2 cups shredded asian cabbage

1 red pepper, sliced

1 tablespoon fresh coriander

1 tin baby corn, drained

Dressing:

1/4 cup white vinegar

1 clove garlic, crushed

ground black pepper – to taste

2 teaspoons fish sauce

Combine all the salad ingredients in a bowl. Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bown, then pour over the salad. Toss and enjoy!

My lemon tree is still full of lemons, so I thought I would share this recipe with you. As the cake contains oil and yoghurt in place of solid fat is is very easy to mix. It is a great cake to make on the weekends with the kids.

rind of 2 lemons;

1 cup of oil

2 eggs

1 3/4 cup sugar

1 cup plain yogurt

3 Table spoons lemon juice

2 cups self-raising flour

Grate all the coloured peel from the lemons into a mixing bowl. Add the oil, eggs and sugar and beat with a rotary beater until thick and well blended. Add the yoghurt and lemon juice and beat again while adding flour little at a time.

Then pour the cake mix into a prepared tin and bake at 180C for around 30 -40 min depending on the sort of cake tin you are cooking it in.

I like to serve this plain with a little icing sugar sprinkled on top.

When my tomatoes are growing faster than I can use them in salads I make this soup. It is nice hot or cold.

Fresh tomato soup - serve hot or cold

1 -1.5 Kgm ripe red tomatoes

2 teaspoons salt or to taste

1/4 cup of rice

Put the tomatoes into a large pan, chopping them into large chunks. Cook on medium until the tomatoes are turning into mush. You can add some garlic and or onions if you like. Once the tomatoes are cooked a bit add in your rice and cook away some more – up to an hour. The rice helps to thicken the soup. Mash it down with a stick blender and you are done!

I like to serve my soup with some yoghurt and basil. Yummm! I don’t press my soup through a sive to remove the pips – but you can if you wish.

Strawberry jam is one of the few jams that you can make to a formula! I love growing strawberries, they make a tasty treat to nibble while you are watering! But if you have enough, just 500g will do, you can make some jam to satisfy that need to get ready for the winter ahead! Here is my recipe:

strawberries

500g strawberries

2 tbsp water

2 cups of sugar

3/4 teaspn tartaric acid

Slice the strawberries into a large pot, removing the green tops and stems, and any bad bits. Add the water to stop the berries sticking when you start to heat them, and bring them to the boil, mashing them with a potato masher if they are still in pieces. Make sure you have washed enough jars – 3 should do it but do 4-5 just in case and when they are very clean pop them into the oven – the oven can be cold when you put them in but turn it on to 100C. The jars need to have been in for at least 10 minutes at 100C when you put the jam in.

mash them with a potato masher

When the berries feel soft, add the sugar and stir over a moderate heat until the mixture starts to boil. Boil quite fast for 3 minutes exactly, then sprinkle in the tartaric acid. Watch the way the colour suddenly brightens, it is quite magic! Now, boil briskly for 4 minutes longer, then pour into those clean jars you prepared earlier.